Scotland’s people love Scotland’s nature – it’s part of who we are. But our nature is in trouble. One in nine species in Scotland is at risk of extinction.
The Scotland Loves Nature campaign calls for strong, legally binding targets for nature recovery. The Natural Environment Bill, to be debated this autumn in the Scottish parliament, is a critical opportunity to make this happen.
We asked supporters of the campaign to write messages to MSPs about why they love Scotland’s nature and why they want it to be a priority. Hundreds of people across Scotland and beyond sent messages expressing deep connection to our natural environment, pain at the destruction and loss they have witnessed in their own lifetimes, and determination to help Scotland’s nature recover and thrive.
This week, we sent a booklet containing 40 of those messages to every MSP in the Scottish parliament.
Here are the 40 messages.
We have an ethical and moral imperative to look after our world for those who follow. Scotland CAN lead the way – that is who we are. We can be leaders not only for ourselves but on the global stage… NOW is the time and the future of generations is in our hands. I trust and believe that you will do the right thing at this pivotal moment in our history.
Robert, Perth and Kinross
I want us all to live in a beautiful, thriving country that looks after its amazing natural assets and works with nature, not against it. We can do it with the right leadership, commitment and vision, and it will benefit us all.
Mary, Dumfries and Galloway
My wife and I come to Scotland every year on holiday because of the wild nature. The more rewilding and restoration that happens, the more we visit Scotland to spend our money supporting those projects and local economies.
Alex, Hertfordshire
Being from Grangemouth where quality green space is limited, the move to NetZero should include more focus on improving and increasing green space for the community… Grangemouth has a large number of flats and the green spaces are vital to provide people space to socialise, exercise and enjoy the outdoors.
Marnie, Grangemouth
Along with my husband I’ve bought part of a field near where I live to protect it from intensive agricultural production and building development… We have invited a group of villagers who want to increase biodiversity to help us. They love being out in Nature in (virtually) all weathers. Their gentle chat and smiling faces speak volumes for the benefits to humans of working to improve conditions for wildlife.
Lesley, Fife
It is essential to save nature and biodiversity. EVERYTHING depends on it. There is no use for wealth if there is no nature to sustain us.
Jane, Dumfries and Galloway
I’m a scuba diver and underwater photographer… Our waters look dark and uninteresting from the shore but when you are underwater we have the most amazing life equivalent to some of the warm water species. Please look after it as many of these species help with the sustainability of our environment.
Lynne, Midlothian
We all need nature as it is a form of medicine. As a disabled person and wheelchair user I enjoy the benefits of being in the fresh air. I also enjoy the calming effects of our woodlands and the plants and animals that they support.
Donald, Glasgow
Nature is the basis of all things Scottish: its people, whisky, music, haggis, language, shortbread, etc! Even Irn-Bru needs Scottish water to dazzle! Without nature, Scotland is nothing. So we must protect it, please!
Hanna, Aberdeenshire
If nature dies, we all die.
Hazel, East Lothian
One of my biggest fears is the thought that if I have children they may not hear choruses of birds singing in the spring or watch foxes playing in fields in the summer.
Olivia, West Lothian
I was brought up in the highlands and loved walking in the highlands. At the time I thought that I was in wild nature, but since visiting areas such as Glen Affric I am now aware that I was really looking at a bit of an over grazed desert. How magnificent the Scottish countryside could be with correct stewardship to aid recovery, would it not be fantastic to be proud of what we can achieve, a chance to lead the UK and Europe if we are forward thinking.
Ray, Highland
We need to start restoring the natural environment that we have taken for granted for so long. The Natural Environment Bill is an excellent start, but please make sure appropriate enforcement and follow up is implemented.
Owen, Stirling
We cannot afford to just have nature in island reserves. We need to link habitats and restore nature in the wider countryside, within a productive agricultural system.
Chris, Clackmannanshire
I became aware a little while ago that on my regular early morning walks around the outskirts of Dunblane, every time I heard or saw a bird, I smiled. There is a simple but very profound connection made, when we are able to be in nature. I honestly believe nature has the power to save us, but only if we reciprocate. Please help protect the wonder that we have in Scotland.
Paul, Stirling
For the past two years instead of mangling our parks with heavy grass cutters, only the edges have been cut. The difference is amazing. Swallows and swifts fly over the long grass catching insects, and small birds can be seen feeding on the seeds which have been allowed to grow. Where there is a boggy area ducks came in last year as did a heron, they have more protection with the long grass, and the amount of bees and butterflies was beautiful to see.
Elizabeth, North Ayrshire
When I moved into my semi-rural house 30 years ago, I set up a wildlife camera, it recorded lots of red squirrels, hedgehogs, frogs, toads, even a snake one year, all in my garden. Now all I get are grey squirrels, everything else has gone, even the bird numbers have dropped considerably. We need to help nature now, before it’s too late.
Jane, Angus
As someone who lives and works in the countryside it is of paramount importance that we drastically reduce deer numbers… This poor situation has been ongoing for decades too long.
Alistair, Highland
How could I not love and want to protect Scotland’s nature? Nature provides us with so much. Of course, there are strong economic arguments for protecting nature, but on a personal level, feeling connected to the natural world around me keeps me going as a mum, as a doctor, and as someone trying to make life better for us all. Please ensure future governments have to support nature recovery in Scotland.
Lynn, Perth and Kinross
Spending time in nature is so important to me, from daily walks with my dog through the local woods, to the singular wonder of seeing Puffins, Kittiwakes and Guillemots on the Isle of May. It gets me through tough days and reminds me we’re part of something bigger.
Ginny, Edinburgh
We all need to play our part in revitalising nature, from individual gardens to farming and pesticide policy at government level. Prioritise nature and biodiversity – our lives depend upon it for food security in the long-term and we all benefit in the short-term!
Katrin, Aberdeenshire
If one day your child turns to you and says, ‘why did humans let the world die,’ will you honestly be able to tell them that ‘we tried,’ or will you just lie to them? Fixing this problem is not even that hard (the scientists already have you covered on that), you just need to actually do it. Now grow a back bone, stand up to the big businesses, and do it.
Connor, West Lothian
As a recreational scuba diver I have several times seen the damage done to the underwater environment by bottom trawling. In trawling to harvest one species a whole environment is damaged, destroying the sea life and whole areas where young fish and other sea life would grow. The economic impact on other fisheries by damaging the young should be obvious, even if folks do not care about the environment, other non-food species and the future of the sea in general.
Alastair, Clackmannanshire
Nature has helped me through some really sad times, just sitting, listening and looking is a salve to my soul. I just cannot express how important it is to me, it is the foundation of everything.
Ann, Angus
I’ve loved nature since I was a kid. I had a small pond with frogs and spent hours watching tadpoles and froglets. These days I struggle to find frogs. Hedgehogs were common when I was a kid. Only 40-odd years later, I rarely see one. Nature is in steep decline, and it’s because of us. Our use of chemicals, our overconsumption of all resources, our destruction of natural habitats. It can’t go on. We must do something or humanity will suffer as much as nature already does.
Ross, East Ayrshire
I swim every day in the North Sea and l am sickened by the amount of rubbish I pick up every day – mostly plastics but also lots of debris from fishing boats. We need to clean our oceans and beaches.
Hilary, Fife
One of the last nature areas where I live is currently under threat. Our community is bereft. Trees are set to be felled and important habitat destroyed, we are trying hard to save it, the impact on our wellbeing is huge. People need these spaces, nature is medicine, destroying these areas makes everyone suffer in the long run.
Wendy, East Dunbartonshire
When I first came to live in this village in South West Scotland there was an abundance of birds and mammals: colonies of house martins, skylarks, hares, insects, kestrels. The list was endless. Now I am surrounded by intensive dairy farms and I live in a green desert.
Mandy, Dumfries and Galloway
Access to nature is vital for my mental well-being. I have Long Covid, and being able to sit in and be surrounded by nature replenishes me and helps me cope with symptoms that can otherwise overwhelm me. I am not always well enough to get outside, but when I am I really feel the benefits.
Steve, Glasgow
I live in a remote, rural area surrounded by the most beautiful scenery. In local engagement, it is clear that this landscape is the one thing that everyone in our community values the most. Yet a lack of access to the land (for a variety of purposes, from leisure to food growing) is breaking our connection with the land and preventing younger generations from learning how to responsibly access or to care for our greatest asset… Our access to the land needs to be upheld, and communities need to be given the power and the resources to take responsibility for their own little bit of the natural world. We love it, let us protect it!
Deborah, Dumfries and Galloway
I want our leaders to make Scotland’s nature a real priority, not just in words, but through bold action. That means restoring habitats, protecting species, and supporting people and communities to live in balance with the natural world. A thriving natural environment is essential for our health, our climate, and future generations. Please act now.
Chris, South Ayrshire
Nature is my life source and I am lucky to live on a Scottish island surrounded by the ocean and incredible landscape. This makes me even more aware of changes in the environment as we see whales beached through line entanglement or dead with stomachs full of plastic.
Patricia, Highland